Legislators Join Push To Ease Traffic

Illinois 22 Changes Can't Wait, They Say

October 20, 1999|By Susan Kuczka, Tribune Staff Writer.

Four state lawmakers on Tuesday joined Lincolnshire officials in requesting that the Illinois Department of Transportation make immediate, low-cost improvements to Illinois Highway 22 while a long-term solution to chronic congestion is studied.

State Sens. William Peterson (R-Long Grove) and Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills) and Reps. Sidney Mathias (R-Buffalo Grove) and Lauren Beth Gash (D-Highland Park) said several steps could be taken to help reduce traffic congestion.

"Even the best intentioned IDOT plans are years away from implementation," the lawmakers said in a letter to IDOT. "We need relief from congestion now."

The lawmakers specifically asked that IDOT reprogram traffic-signal timings and coordinate the signals to smooth the traffic flow. They also asked that pavement stripping be revised to maximize the use of the existing pavement width and a new lane be constructed on Illinois 22 at Riverwoods Road.

Lincolnshire officials said they supported the suggested improvements, and hope that their own plans may further reduce congestion.

IDOT spokeswoman Martha Schiebel said Tuesday transportation officials would have no comment on the request until they could review the letter.

Last summer, IDOT officials stunned village officials when they announced that the proposed widening of Illinois 22 was included in their five-year transportation improvement plan. It included more than $11 million for widening Illinois 22 between Highland Park and Long Grove.

The project has been a contentious issue in Lincolnshire for years, which is why village officials authorized a study of alternative improvements to the roadway.

The study by Kenig, Lindgren, O'Hara, Aboona Inc. of Rosemont showed there were several alternatives available, including adding a right-turn lane to westbound Olde Half Day Road onto Milwaukee Avenue and building a dual southbound entry ramp at Illinois 22 and the Tri-State Tollway.

The village and the state lawmakers also oppose IDOT's proposed construction of an 18-foot median in the road in Lincolnshire. Such construction, village officials contend, raises serious safety questions as well as concerns from residents about their property, Irvin said.

"Our primary concern is really from the toll road to west of the Des Plaines River where single-family residences are located," Village Manager Robert L. Irvin said, noting the Lincolnshire Tennis and Fitness Club also likely would lose use of some tennis courts if the road was expanded to four lanes.

Link said the traffic proposals were not being recommended as an alternative to the proposed road widening, but rather as a way to offer immediate relief from traffic congestion at a relatively low cost to IDOT.

"If the state said today it was going to widen Route 22, it would be five years down the line before it was completed," Link said. "If we can do something to help move traffic right away, it would be a benefit to the people who travel on Route 22."